Seer. The sound of it, the sibilant ’s’ and the slippery vowels, casually conveyed an intriguing mysticism. Nymeria’s ears pivoted forward in full, honing in on Isopia’s lecture. (And for the record, a lecture is precisely what it sounded like. The hybrid spoke with the practiced inflections of a teacher repeating a lesson that had become so ingrained in her head that it was hard, indisputable, and stagnant fact.) It wasn’t condescending, precisely… but it dripped with knowingness, the sort that made Nym feel like a fucking idiot in comparison. As for if the other mare was intentional in her baldly scientific approach or if it was a habit, that was more difficult to tell. Either way, it indicated that the (apparently) older mare was intelligent—whether by her playing the situation to her advantage or her sheer wealth of knowledge.

Overthinking, Lilómiel chipped in drily and wisely while his claws tightened on her shoulders. Nymeria resisted the urge to snort; instead she gently scolded him. There’s no flaw in being too cautious, Lil.

There was absolutely nothing the small black could've said that would prevent her from overanalyzing every one of Isopia’s next words—and what was practically her denouement of the Helovian gods. Nymeria’s brows twitched momentarily upwards in surprised reflex; she wondered if everyone in the Hidden Falls shared such a bold view. (She also wondered if they would all be smited by lightning for a display of ignorance like that.) While Nymeria had never personally had experience with the gods, that didn’t change that they were still gods. And while she supposed that Isopia's suggestion could be true... that was a wise way to approach the gods, or generally live in their domain with. They were still immortal divinities who were able to bestow blessings and curses on whoever they wanted.

On an alternate train of thought, Nymeria thought being able to commune with the gods still sounded cool as fuck.

There was a pause between them, but the grullo didn’t break it. It was easy enough to see that Isopia was building to something—and when Isopia asked the question Nymeria had expected from the start, it was hardly a surprise. Prior to her arrival at the Falls Nym had prepared a suitably benign answer, but she nevertheless allowed for a pause. It would look vaguely suspicious, she mused, if she jumped the gun on this answer.

“I want a purpose,” she began, with her lies cloaked in truth and her deceit based in honesty. Another pause—and “a reason to live beyond existing for the sake of it. I, um, confess that this herd was not chosen for any particular reason, other than that I hoped I might find my brother here. I don’t know much of the herds around Helovia… but I figured this was as good a place as any to start.”